London — World stocks were set for their 10th consecutive week of gains on Friday, while the euro jumped more than half 0.5% as comments by US officials this week advocating their support for a weak dollar reverberated through currency markets. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries was down 0.1%, though it was still set for its 10th weekly gain on the trot. European shares edged up in early deals, with the pan-European Stoxx index up 0.3%, although they were set for their first weekly drop this year as a rally in the euro weighed. Earlier in Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.25% for the day, led by gains in Chinese financial and property shares. It headed for its 11th consecutive day of gains, the longest sequence since 2015, and also for seventh consecutive week of gains for the first time since 2010. Japan’s Nikkei ended down 0.2%. World equity markets have rallied over the past year, buoyed by a synchronised uptick ...
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